[NoMods]

I've always had them on my other cars with various brands I bought from Amazon, I am looking for a new one for the M5 2 channel.

[crypto]

I have the Thinkware U1000 front & rear with Celllink NEO battery for park mode.

[Ex_Stig]

Blackvue 2 channel. Custom installed wiring with a Blendmount to conceal the camera directly behind the rearview mirror.

[LouK]

Using a Cobra SC200D in our truck. The picture and sound is decent, although a few times we have noticed it not recording for whatever reason. The app is the biggest letdown though. I wont buy another one for that reason alone.

[mavz]

I'm using a Blackvue 590x based on recommendations. Even after some tweaking, the recording quality is 'fine'.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

OwlCam — 4G connection ($20/month or $192/year) let's me remotely view from the cabin looking out (nose view), as well as the interior of the cabin through their iPhone app. I use it more as a surveillance/security camera than a dash cam (though it obviously does both). It even has integrated LED lights that illuminate the cabin in case you're parked in the dark. You can monitor anyone driving your car, such as if you must entrust your car to valet, at the car wash, etc. You can also just check in on your car anytime.

Very clean install, power wire runs through the bracket and under the trim at the bottom of the windshield to connect to the OBD port. It looks right at home inside the F90, especially with black interiors.

A little more expensive than traditional dash cams, but the increase in security is worth it in my opinion. Gives me some peace of mind.

https://shop.owlcam.com/collections/...lassic-5-1-cam

EDIT — I purchased my OwlCam in October 2019 when I got my first M5, mainly because of the 4G connection. It was the only dash cam with that feature. I am now seeing other 4G connected cameras have emerged since then.

[G-M5]

Running SC400d with power going thru OBD port. App is junk tho - but so far happy with picture quality. I dont use rear cam tho - it comes with one.

[Aronis]

Blackvue 900 two camera. I have it in two cars. You can get free account to auto upload events to the cloud. Works great with in car internet connection. Or can use an independent hot spot device.

Now, does your service guy tell you the dash cam and radar detector will ruin your battery? Because the BMW model of dashcam is magically and does not.

Mike

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by Aronis

Blackvue 900 two camera. I have it in two cars. You can get free account to auto upload events to the cloud. Works great with in car internet connection. Or can use an independent hot spot device.

Now, does your service guy tell you the dash cam and radar detector will ruin your battery? Because the BMW model of dashcam is magically and does not.

Mike

When I had the BlackVue in my M3 I had the magic battery backup thing. I ended up removing it because I did get warning lights that the battery was being drained.

It wasn't a big deal for me as I'm not worried about the car when it's parked.

[NoMods]

Originally Posted by Aronis

Blackvue 900 two camera. I have it in two cars. You can get free account to auto upload events to the cloud. Works great with in car internet connection. Or can use an independent hot spot device.

Now, does your service guy tell you the dash cam and radar detector will ruin your battery? Because the BMW model of dashcam is magically and does not.

Mike

i had the original blackvues about 8 years ago iirc, it worked great and the design almost looks the same, i guess i don't need the LCD screen and just use my cell app

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

OP, worth noting my experience today to you. Apologies in advance, as no threadjacking is intended, but I thought this will help you and other members contemplating a dash cam. Short version of the story. While I was in my car, someone in the parallel space in front of me basically launched a shopping cart into my front bumper twice in a row. I confronted him, he denied everything, screamed several profanities at me, and fled even after I told him the whole thing was on camera. Screamed at me its a "no fault" state and my insurance would cover it (it's not, by the way) and to call the cops, so I did. They came, took a report, took a statement from a kindhearted eyewitness, and then reviewed the video. The video from my OwlCam was the "nail in his coffin" (officer's words, not mine). Exactly what you need with someone slippery like this.

I was able to instantly trim and export the video and provide it the officer, immediately on the scene courtesy of the 4G connection and mobile app. There are of course plenty of additional dash cams that you could do this with, but this was exceedingly expedient and helped the process move along very quickly. With the entire video in the cloud, no need to remove memory cards from a traditional dash cam, upload video to a computer, trim down the footage, export it from there, etc.

Always swore by OwlCam (and it's differentiator from the rest of the market — the 4G connection), and still do today. Saved me today. I hope you'll never need it, but it's great to have.

Let us know what you go with.

[Aronis]

most excellent. and the outcome? In 2022? Nothing. No bail. No Punishment. The only justice would have been if they guy got physical and you got physics-acle as in imparting large amounts of kinetic energy into him. Violence? No way that would be wrong.

Mike

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by Aronis

most excellent. and the outcome? In 2022? Nothing. No bail. No Punishment. The only justice would have been if they guy got physical and you got physics-acle as in imparting large amounts of kinetic energy into him. Violence? No way that would be wrong.

Mike

Absolutely correct, Mike. No (criminal) punishment whatsoever. I will of course go after his insurance with everything that I have. The civil matter, on the other hand? Oh boy, I'm going to have a field day with him.

[DryBark]

Originally Posted by ResIpsaLoquitur

Absolutely correct, Mike. No (criminal) punishment whatsoever. I will of course go after his insurance with everything that I have. The civil matter, on the other hand? Oh boy, I'm going to have a field day with him.

Does the owl cam have a rear channel as well or do you just have to buy a second camera? Based on the website it seemed like you needed a second 5G subscription for the second camera.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by DryBark

Does the owl cam have a rear channel as well or do you just have to buy a second camera? Based on the website it seemed like you needed a second 5G subscription for the second camera.

Mine has outward facing (nose out view) and inward (cabin view) facing cameras in one unit. I'm not sure if you mean a second camera in the rear looking in to the cabin or a second camera in the rear facing out, but I do not have either of those. My understanding is that each camera needs its own subscription if you decide to put another one in.

While the inward facing camera from the dash does not provide as clear of a view of the rear of the vehicle, it will capture the errant shopping cart striking your rear, or a car hitting you from behind, if it's within the view of the rear glass. The inward facing camera basically captures anything your eyes would be able to see out of the rear glass if you turned your head to look out the rear glass while in the driver's seat. You can toggle between both views in the camera for live view, and it records video in both directional views.

P.S. I remember from our previous winter tire discussion that you're in Nova Scotia. It works in Canada!

[Aronis]

I have been following the Dash Cam tech for several years and many have posted that they want a 360 coverage setup. One guy used TWO of the two camera systems to obtain this coverage. The side damage can go undetected.

The big deal today is that car's have become quite expensive (sure the run of the mill car has paced inflation pretty well) with the top end cars of every manufacture being significantly more expensive than their average car. Thus damage by someone can be tens of thousands of dollars and at some point insurance companies are going to stop covering vandalism.

What's more important is to bring back the social standards of respect other's property. Cars, Homes, businesses, etc. That has disappeared from the culture of most of the planet, sadly. "It's only a car." "It's only the garage and support structure of your house (see "People Suck" thread)"

Its time for the Asteroid to fix every thing.

Mike

[will0621]

Another vouch for Blackvue 2ch, hardwired to expansion battery in trunk. Well worth it as my parked 340 at the time was hit and run a few weeks after I installed it. Didn’t notice the damage until next day but the event was saved onto the camera during parking mode.

[will0621]

Originally Posted by Ex_Stig

When I had the BlackVue in my M3 I had the magic battery backup thing. I ended up removing it because I did get warning lights that the battery was being drained.

It wasn't a big deal for me as I'm not worried about the car when it's parked.

I recall if you hardwire it to a fuse that isn’t “always on” it will not drain the car battery. The way I have it set up, the magic battery only charges when the ignition is on. When ignition is off the magic battery will run for about 24 hrs before it dies, but will not drain the car battery.

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by will0621

I recall if you hardwire it to a fuse that isn't "always on" it will not drain the car battery. The way I have it set up, the magic battery only charges when the ignition is on. When ignition is off the magic battery will run for about 24 hrs before it dies, but will not drain the car battery.

That very well could be (and makes sense).

[Aronis]

Originally Posted by will0621

I recall if you hardwire it to a fuse that isn’t “always on” it will not drain the car battery. The way I have it set up, the magic battery only charges when the ignition is on. When ignition is off the magic battery will run for about 24 hrs before it dies, but will not drain the car battery.

Thus the TRUE dilemma with the M5 at least. I found switched off fuses that time out after about 5 minutes, but I suspect that the car comes back alive due to internet requests and perhaps those fuses go hot again. I wanted to investigate this and will once I get my car back. I am going to set up a wyse cam with enough of a chip to record for 24 hours continuously to video the radar and dash cam to see if the lights come on in the middle of the night. And also going to fire up 3d View after the radar and dash cam shut down and see if that triggers them to come back on.

I plan on re-wiring my dash cam and radar to have a true OFF switch which is in a convenient location. With my luck I'll forget to turn them both back on and get hit and then pulled over for speeding.

Mike

[shawnhayes]

I use a cheap Nexar Nexc1. We don't have as much traffic or vandalism around here, but this will only cover while driving and forward facing accidents. Many better cameras here, but the Nexc1 has covered all my needs so far.

Shawn

[crypto]

Originally Posted by Aronis

Thus the TRUE dilemma with the M5 at least. I found switched off fuses that time out after about 5 minutes, but I suspect that the car comes back alive due to internet requests and perhaps those fuses go hot again. I wanted to investigate this and will once I get my car back. I am going to set up a wyse cam with enough of a chip to record for 24 hours continuously to video the radar and dash cam to see if the lights come on in the middle of the night. And also going to fire up 3d View after the radar and dash cam shut down and see if that triggers them to come back on.

I plan on re-wiring my dash cam and radar to have a true OFF switch which is in a convenient location. With my luck I'll forget to turn them both back on and get hit and then pulled over for speeding.

Mike

I think all of the auxiliary fuses stay on until the car competes it's shut down routine or whatever after 5-10 minutes. The one I use in the trunk seems to take about 10 minutes or so before it turns off and my Celllink kicks in. What I can tell you is that if you come anywhere near the car with your key once it's shut off it turns either some or all the fuses back on and maybe that is what you are experiencing. Like if my car has been off for 12 hours and I'm park mode — if I walk by it with the key it turns back on fully and starts recording. You can hear all the noises the car makes when you get close to it with the key.. that's reactivating everything. I guess I never looked if there's a way to disable that and require a remote start or door unlock to do it.

Speaking generally and not responding to you guys — if you want parking mode recording or to otherwise full on record while the car is off — the extra battery is the way to go. A lot of the cameras have some kind of amperage detector and are supposed to be able to shut off if they detect the battery is draining — but long term that will eventually jack up your battery. From my experience you should go with the extra battery (or two even) or the camera basically being off when the car is parked. The only downside to the extra batteries are they cost the same as the dash cam. 😂

I've always had two channel cameras. Never looked into trying to do 360. I know Teslas can record from the door handles or whatever but I think front and rear covers you pretty well in most scenarios. Even if someone hits you from the side — your video would likely have caught them before/after and would otherwise show you did it run a red light or change lanes etc. I like the dash cam for piece of mind and to catch some of the crazy shit I've see.